[Ben_Ord]

Hi,

So I have spent a bit of time looking around this forum and its very helpful! However every case is different so I thought I would ask for some help...

Our case is pretty unique in that I am British and came to the US on a B1 visa for 11 (September 2011 - July 2012) months to do voluntary work in a church and also attend a school that they are running. Voluntary means that I can't earn any money whilst I'm here and I have been living on support that I raised before I came and any money that my parents have been able to help me with. Whilst here I met my now Fiancee and we want to go back to the UK to marry and live. She is a US citizen but was born in Russia and her parents immigrated here when she was 2 in 1990. It was something to do with the fall of communism and her parents were given the chance to leave but she has no birth certificate etc just a citizenship certificate from several years ago.

As I have been living in the US for 9 months I have hardly an money and I'm 22 so I was living with my parents in England. My parents have agreed to house her and cover any costs for the duration of the visa.

We think we have nearly everything that we need for the application but I thought I would double check on here and ask for advice because its an expensive mistake to get wrong!!

So far we have the following:

- Her passport + photos
- Photocopy of my passport + copy of visa page
- Her bank statements for duration of relationship (original)
- My bank statements (since July of 2011 to show that I earned money, lived within my means etc) printed from the online banking website
- Her citizenship certificate
- 3 letters from my parents in UK:
- One stating that they will house and financially support my Fiancee for the duration of the visa
- One stating that I will be able to live there also until we get married
- I was employed full-time by my dad before I came out here so I have another letter from him as the company director stating that I am still employed by him. It also shows how much I earn a year.
- We have a church provisionally booked in England for the 3rd of November and a letter from the pastor of my church there stating that it is booked and that he is going to marry us. It also says that we are going to be living together in the area once married.
-We also have a letter from the pastor of the church here in America that we both attend that has a brief outline of our relationship as he has seen it and is also a statement of our intent and integrity... He is the same person that wrote the letter for my visa that brought me to the US.
- We have a utility bill from my parents that shows they live where they say they do.
- Pictures clearly from different times in relationship. Different clothes, hair color, places, weather etc...
- Her payslips from work
- A letter from her boss with employment history and recommendations for future work. Things like that.

All documents are going to be photocopied as well. We have all of her original documents but at the moment the documents from England are printed out. The originals are on the way in the post if we need them. I am writing a cover letter that will explain what I am doing and why I have no money now but will when I get home in July and exactly how we met etc.

Questions:

- Do we need anything else?
- Can you see any problems with her previous immigration that she had no control over?
- Does the fact that I have no money seem like it will be a problem if my parents will support her?
- Do we need extra information about my parents?
- Any other advice/comments?

Thanks!

 

[AnAmericanInScotland]

Your bank info can't be printed off from the website, those must be either mailed statements, or signed off/stamped by a bank staff member.

Her citizenship registration should be certified (there is a much fancier name for it, I just can't think of it right now) by the Russian consulate.

Everything else seems sufficient to me-but I'm not the UKBA. Still, you have funds/sponsor, you have accommodation, you have work waiting for you in the UK. It really does look good to me.

Others will add their wisdom if I've missed anything, or steered you in the wrong direction (one of the many beauties of this forum).

Be sure to add your info (and update it as your application progresses) to the visa timeline thread so that we can cheer you on

 

[fergie]

Would it not be possible now Russia is a more 'friendly' country. to get her birth certificate or a copy of it, just an idea, it may not be possible, but travel there is much freer.

Here is a link which may be of some use

http://www.ehow.com/how_5189742_copy-russian-birth-certificate.html

 

[Ben_Ord]

Thank you for the quick replies!

I don't think I explained her citizenship properly, she is an American citizen not Russian though she was born there. Her paper is an official government document from the US and used it when she got her passport instead of a birth certificate. I just wondered if having that history would raise any flags when they process it.

With regards to the bank statements, I don't have any physical ones in the UK because they gave me the option to send them electronically and save money on paper. When I print them they are in exactly the same format as they would send them through the post so I don't know what the difference would be there would be no way to know who printed them...

 

[AnAmericanInScotland]

Thank you for the quick replies!

I don't think I explained her citizenship properly, she is an American citizen not Russian though she was born there. Her paper is an official government document from the US and used it when she got her passport instead of a birth certificate. I just wondered if having that history would raise any flags when they process it.

With regards to the bank statements, I don't have any physical ones in the UK because they gave me the option to send them electronically and save money on paper. When I print them they are in exactly the same format as they would send them through the post so I don't know what the difference would be there would be no way to know who printed them...

Woohoo, great news that she is now an American citizen-she should be able to get by with just the passport as proof of nationality. However, you may want to give very serious consideration to having her certificate from Russia officially (and recently) stamped-certified at a consulate near you, should cost under $50USD.

I suggest this because recently the NYC UKBA has been very 'letter of the law' and strict about certain things; a recently affirmed cert from Russia might be a help in proving your partner is making every effort to submit a good application, and is completely legal-all points covered. Any raised flags would likely be lowered, and time will be saved in the processing of the app because the UKBA won't have to ask you to send it on to them in case the Entry Clearance Officer (ECO) wants to be completely assured.

The bank statements MUST be from the brick and mortar bank, or printed off at a branch of your bank and certified by a bank staff member. They just have to be.

I know what you are saying, when my husband and I began accumulating all of the paperwork I would need for the application we too said "But the print out looks just like the one we get from the bank through the post?!'

BUT. When you print from the website, does your bank add that nice little line across top or bottom corner? 'Cuz that IDs it as a web print-out, and the UKBA believes those to be too easily tampered with. They state several times in several places on the app and guidance notes that you may not print out your banking documents from the Internet for submittal as valid supporting documents.

Banks are interesting. They use watermarks, they using coding in the text, they use all sorts of technology to prevent fraud by or against the account holder. And the UKBA knows all the tech.

Hopefully you have time to get your parents down to the bank with permission from you to gather certified bank info.

If not, maybe you could send what you have with an explanatory note that the originals didn't arrive in time from the UK, but I wouldn't count on that helping as the UKBA is very clear that 'Net prints are not acceptable. I'm sorry, but that is how it is.

 

[Ben_Ord]

Ok, I was on the banks website in the section that talks about online banking and I was going to submit a question about printing the statements or to see if they can send me them etc but the website wasn't working!!
If I can't get statements in time do you think that it would matter? I mean we have fulfilled the requirements that they ask for on the maintenance page, do they actually need to see my bank statements as the UK fiancee if I have a letter guaranteeing that she will be supported financially by my parents? I know they take these things into account but if I have no money anyway...

 

[AnAmericanInScotland]

Ok, I was on the banks website in the section that talks about online banking and I was going to submit a question about printing the statements or to see if they can send me them etc but the website wasn't working!!
If I can't get statements in time do you think that it would matter? I mean we have fulfilled the requirements that they ask for on the maintenance page, do they actually need to see my bank statements as the UK fiancee if I have a letter guaranteeing that she will be supported financially by my parents? I know they take these things into account but if I have no money anyway...

They will need to see at least three months back of your parent's bank accounts, and those need to be from the brick and mortar bank, not the website. Can your parents get those mailed to you in time? The last person I spoke to that tried to get an expedited set of bank paperwork from the UK said it took nearly two weeks to receive the papers. I want to say they used Royal Mail, but I really don't recall for sure.

As for yours, you might try telephoning to see if you can persuade them to mail you your statements, or at least a letter, but again, that's snail mail and they may not be willing to spend the money to send it expedited. Which may take as long as two weeks-is there any chance your parents could pick up your statements from your bank and put the two sets of statements in one expedited package?

I am sure there are super-expedited courier services, and I am equally sure the price is going to be eye-watering. But worth it if time is very short.